Urban Planning in the Nordic World

Urban planning was a keystone in the materialization of the Nordic welfare states. The post-war urban landscape was characterized by division of functions and its open spaces. However, strategies have changed over the decades as models of development have shifted and as the needs of society and a warming planet have come into focus.

Architect Ellen Braae outlines the origins, development, challenges, and lived realities of the changing welfare city in the Nordic countries.

About the author

Ellen Braae, architect MAA and professor of landscape architecture theory and method and head of the research group ‘Landscape Architecture and Urbanism’.